World of Grays
by lost pen caps
Summary: AZ fluff! How will the princess react when Zelgadiss tells her a harsh reality?What's this? She's handling it well! What's going on? Rated for some implications.


Disclaimer: All Slayers characters are owned by Hajime Kanzaka (Kanzaka Hajime).

_The story is set post- TRY after Zelgadiss is somehow cured and is at the castle of Seyruun._

_Couplings: Amelia/Zelgadiss_

Zelgadiss brushed his soft lavender hair back with his hand. He was sitting across a long marble-inlaid wooden table staring at the face of the Princess of Seyruun. His lengthy, elegantly slim legs were crossed at the ankles. Accentuating his slim figure was a forest green dress tunic, loosely tied at the waist with a brown sash. He had convinced the princess to let him wear his newly-remade beige travel pants for comfort. Gently, he moved back to lean against the luxuriously plush, tall back of his chair. He crossed his arms lazily, his pose radiating the typical haughtiness of someone born with a noble position. He wondered how the princess would answer his question. Hopefully, it would be the right answer.

Amelia, on her part, fixed the papers in front of her into a neat stack on the table. Her normally cheerful expression was replaced by a blank, emotionless mask. Done with her task, she finally looked up across the table at the man awaiting her answer.

"You're right, Zelgadiss-san. The world is full of grays; there isn't a definite and thorough white or such black in this world." She gave him a small disarming smile. Zelgadiss smiled inwardly. On the outside though, he scoffed indignantly and gave an arrogant twitch of his head.

"Then why do you insist that justice exists? There is nothing purely white so there is no justice; nothing purely black, so there's no complete evil for this so-called justice to fight against." Zelgadiss was looking forward to how she would deal with this one.

"That's where you're wrong Zelgadiss-san." Here, Amelia gave a dramatic pause. "We've already established that the world is full of grays, right? Well, gray is made up of both black and white. It won't work if one or the other is missing. Black will just be black without white, but white will also just be that without black. Because of this, they won't be able to get rid of each other no matter how hard they try." Amelia looked expectantly at Zelgadiss.

"So what's the point then? Why fight if neither side can ever win?" Zelgadiss countered the Princess' statement smoothly. Amelia looked vaguely triumphant as she got up from her seat and walked slowly towards Zelgadiss. Her hand trailed lazily along the long edge of the table, avoiding the various papers, quills, and ink bottles scattered on its surface.

"I never said neither side can win. I just said that they can't get rid of each other." Amelia fixed her gaze steadily on Zelgadiss' face. Her light-pink satin dress softly whispered as she moved slowly, her shoes making an occasional muffled click on the marble floor. These were the only sounds in the otherwise silent room, save for her voice. "For instance, when we helped Lina-san save the world the white scored a victory. With the Kouma Sensou (1), black was triumphant. Yet, even though the opposing sides scored pretty big wins, the world hasn't been engulfed in either light or darkness. This proves that as long as justice is around, evil will be right around the corner, and vice versa." Amelia had reached Zelgadiss' end of the long table by the end of her little speech. She faced him, one brow arched perfectly, waiting for his answer.

Zelgadiss suddenly found that it was difficult to breathe normally. The tight-fitting bodice and short sleeves he hadn't seen from afar made him swallow hard. A subtly low neckline was unadorned by the usual frills and lace typical of a dress made for the Princess. The rest of the pink-hued fabric fell around her ankles, almost masking the presence of her glittering glass-like slippers. Her thin silver bracelet, necklace, and small dew-drop earrings only seemed to add to her innocent magnificence. For a moment, he was speechless, awed by the glow of her beauty brought out by such a simple dress. Then he moved his gaze up to her face. The same childishly cute face, framed by raven-black hair, smiled back at him. Her blue eyes outshone the rest of her, gleaming with energy, and an as of yet unbroken spirit. Another few moments of silence passed, and the cute, eager smile turned into a confused, yet still adorable, frown. She was puzzled by his sudden silence and even more so by his expression. Zelgadiss, noting her perplexity, cleared his throat to hide his steadily reddening face and mentally towed his mind back on track. He searched for what he had wanted to say.

"Ok then, that's all very fine and well but what about justice itself? It can seem "just" to one person, but to another it might not be. Wouldn't that make justice itself "unjust"?" Zelgadiss looked at Amelia, and gave a small half-smile. Amelia, on the other hand, looked as if she had been given a lemon when she had asked for a peach.

"Umm, well... that is..." she paused, and her facial expression turned thoughtful for once, the blank mask dropped for the first time that evening. Then she sighed in resignation and defeat. "Aww... Zel-san! And I was on a roll too!" She looked half-reproachfully, half-amusedly at the ex-chimera. He chuckled with a playfully evil grin.

"I knew that one would stump you." There was a pause and his expression turned encouraging. "Think a little harder." He stood up, grin growing smaller into a half-smile.

"Um... Ah... Oh! Is this one of those diplomatic situations were some sacrifices have to be made for the better good? Zel-san! You know I'm bad at those!" The black-haired princess put her hands on her hips and pouted. Zelgadiss laughed at her endearing actions, and tried to pull her into a hug. When she still pouted, he tickled her sides into submission, and they both giggled together for a joyful moment. After their giggles had subsided, Amelia gently pulled herself out of his embrace and looked squarely into his eyes.

"I do have to admit that your 'Diplomacy and Politics' lessons are very educational. I feel like a proper Queen already!" This smile made the others she had given that evening, seem pale in comparison. Zelgadiss smirked at her words. He had been waiting for those words for a long time.

"No, you're not quite there yet, Amelia." His smirk turned into a grin at her crestfallen expression, which still managed to be adorable. He reached into his pocket as he knelt on one knee in front of her. He took out a small box and opened it in the same movement, delighting in her thrilled gasp and another one of her dazzling smiles. "You're still a Princess. But perhaps this will change that..." There was a small pause as he drew in a shaky breath. "Amelia Tesla Wil Seyruun, would you marry me?" The princess felt like crying with joy.

"Yes! Of course!" Amelia answered confidently and tearfully.

Unable to contain her joy any longer she flung herself into Zelgadiss' arms. Unfortunately, he wasn't expecting her sudden tackle/hug, and toppled to the ground with her on top of him. The two found themselves in the compromising position and flushed a deep red, united in their embarrassment. Amelia stammered out an apology and attempted to stand back up when Zelgadiss grabbed her arm. His gaze shimmered with longing and desire.

"We're going to be a married couple soon. There's no reason for you to be sorry." He stated seriously. They shared a long meaningful gaze, and slowly, their still-flushed faces inched towards each other's, eyes drifting closed. _Bonk!_ At the last moment, Amelia lost her balance and banged her head against Zel's.

"Ouch..." Zel said at the same time that Amelia let out an "Owie..." They sat up, each nursing their sore spots. The former chimera looked at Amelia and sighed regretfully.

"Oh well. We'll just save that for our wedding night." His smirked slyly at her, all traces of his blush gone. Amelia flushed an even darker shade of scarlet, but looked up to meet his suggestive grin with a shy smile.

"We'd better go tell Daddy about this right now." She murmured, still blushing endearingly. Zel nodded at her, a slight flush lighting his cheeks as the full implication of what he had suggested hit home. The thought of wedding night filled him with nervous excitement. He couldn't wait until it came.

Without further ado, they exited the study and walked down the hallways, holding hands.

(_1) I'm not sure if that's what it's called, but it's the war in which Xelloss single-handedly annihilates a lot of Golden Dragons._

_A/N: So how was it? I was thinking of making it the beginning of a romantic relationship for Amelia and Zel, when she meets him on a rainy day, out on the road while traveling with Lina-tachi. Bu, then I decided that I couldn't make it so angsty, and this is the result: A super-fluffy AZ one-shot. I believe it's also sort of OOC but that is supposed to indicate that the two have gone far from being in just "puppy-love". Maybe I should make a prequel to it? What do you people think?_


End file.
